In message , Fat Freddy's Cat
writes
Need to purchase a hedge trimmer to deal with a fairly large hedge
boundary - I will be working off ladders at some points and the hedge
is between 50 and 100 cm thick in places.

I would appreciate any recommendations on what to buy (I have already
discounted what appear to be practically useless rechargeable
trimmers)...

petrol?
electric?
blade length?
anything else I should know or care about?
anybody used a trimmer that is fantastic they could recommend?

I would pay up to about £100 to buy one.

cheers for any advice,
g.

You will have no difficulty in finding something electric (eg Bosch) at
around £100 at B&Q or online from Screwfix or similar. The blade length
for a standard trimmer (ie not long reach) should be 60 cms or more for
a hedge of the sort of size you are indicating. A word of warning -
using a hedge trimmer off ladders is not to be recommended, particularly
if the hedge is 100 cms thick in places.

We have over 100 metres of mixed hedgerow plus another 100 metres of
mature shrub borders that need annual trimming. I started with what was
then a relatively expensive B&D trimmer but realised that this was far
too much like hard work - it would not cope with hawthorn and conifers
and was very uncomfortable to use for prolonged periods. I then spent
twice as much on a Viking 600 and wished that I had done it years before
- much less effort and much quicker and will cope with anything within
reason.

This year I have treated myself to another Viking - a long reach HEL 700
which takes a bit of getting used to due to the increased weight but is
noticeably faster than the 600 and means that I can tackle the tall
stuff safely and keep the spiny stuff like berberis at more than arms
length.

I use electric rather than petrol for several reasons, weight advantage
(although some modern petrol kit is somewhat lighter than it was a few
years ago), much lower noise, reliability (I have never had much luck
with 2 stroke in the past but again I am sure that the latest engines
are a considerable improvement on their predecessors), garden layout
with several readily accessible exterior power sockets which means that
cable management is not a problem, and we are very lucky in having an
excellent Stihl/Viking dealer who has always beaten the best price
available online.

My view is that if you have a lot of hedge to maintain it really does
pay to spend sufficient for some reasonable kit. I think that someone
else has suggested hiring as an interim solution - a good idea - at
least you could find out whether petrol or electric power is the right
solution for you.
--
Robert